SBA loans for optometrists: bigger loans, fewer practice sales, and three businesses under one roof

Larger loans than most practices, at a slightly lower rate

Offices of optometrists (NAICS 621320) are practices led by doctors of optometry: eye exams, contact lens fittings, the diagnosis and management of eye disease, and, in most offices, an optical dispensary selling frames and lenses. From FY2024 through June 2026 SBA lenders approved 293 7(a) loans to them, worth $158,675,900. The shape of that lending differs from other health practices in one clear way: the loans are bigger.

The median rate of 10% sits below the national 10.25%, and the middle half of rates starts at 8.5%. Loan size is consistent with that: SBA's variable-rate cap falls from the base rate plus 6% on loans from $50,001 to $250,000 to plus 3% above $350,000, and a quarter of optometry loans are larger than $565,000. See SBA maximum interest rates and current SBA loan rates.

How a lender reads an optometry practice's revenue

Two practices with the same collections can underwrite very differently. An underwriter separates the revenue into the streams below, because each converts to cash with a different margin and a different degree of certainty.

Two features stand out. First, the optical dispensary carries inventory, frames and contact lenses, that has little value to a lender if the practice fails; it counts toward the business's working capital, not its collateral. Second, a practice that has built a medical eye care book, glaucoma monitoring, diabetic eye exams and the like, is less dependent on vision-plan fee schedules, and lenders tend to read that revenue as more durable because patients return on a schedule.

Bring revenue by stream and by payer. A single collections total hides what the lender most wants to see.

Equipment and space are where the money goes

An optometry office needs exam lanes, diagnostic equipment such as retinal imaging and optical coherence tomography, a lab or edging equipment in some offices, and a retail showroom that looks like a store. That is why the median loan sits above the national one, and why about one loan in seven reached $1 million.

• Equipment can run up to 10 years under 7(a), or 15 if its useful life supports it. Diagnostic technology is replaced more often than that, so lenders match the term to how long the device is actually used. Financing equipment separately can leave the 7(a) loan for goodwill and working capital. See equipment financing versus SBA 7(a).
• Build-out of a leased space is usually financed inside the 7(a) loan, and the lender will want the lease to run at least as long as the loan, with renewal options.
• Buildings. 47 SBA 504 loans went to optometrists at a median of $620,000, more than three times the 7(a) median. A 504 is typically 50% bank, 40% CDC and 10% borrower, and the practice must occupy at least 51% of an existing building. Real estate under 7(a) can run up to 25 years. See SBA 7(a) versus 504.

About one loan in five, 19.5%, carried a fixed rate; the rest move with the base rate, which matters for a practice whose vision-plan fees do not rise when rates do. On a 7(a) loan of 15 years or more, prepaying more than 25% in the first three years carries a penalty of 5%, 3% and 1% of the amount prepaid, which matters to a doctor who expects to sell the practice or the building. See the SBA prepayment penalty.

Opening a new office

Start-ups were 15% of optometry loans. Lenders fund new offices because the risk is easier to see than in most start-ups: a licensed doctor who has practiced as an associate has a record of exams per day and revenue per patient, and the costs of opening, equipment, build-out and opening frame inventory, can be quoted in advance.

• At least 10% of total project costs as equity injection, with its source shown in bank statements
• A month-by-month projection that starts from zero patients and reaches the doctor's historical exam volume over a believable period
• Working capital in the loan to cover payroll and rent until collections catch up, including the months it takes to be credentialed with vision and medical plans
• For a franchise optical concept, 3.4% of loans, the brand's agreement reviewed for SBA eligibility

With no business history, the owner's personal finances carry the loan: SBA's global test requires 1.0x coverage including the owners' personal obligations, and every owner of 20% or more guarantees the loan. See global cash flow and SBA Form 1919.

Why so few practice purchases go through SBA

Only 16 loans, 5.5% of the total, financed a change of ownership, about half the national share of 10.4%. The data cannot say why, but two patterns in how optometry practices change hands are consistent with it. Many practices pass gradually to an associate who buys in over years, which is a partial change of ownership rather than a single purchase. Others sell to larger groups that finance themselves outside SBA. See partial changes of ownership under SBA.

The purchases that did use SBA were substantial: a median of $450,000, more than twice the industry's median loan, at a median rate of 9%. At that size the price is mostly goodwill, so SBA's valuation rule usually applies: where the amount financed, less appraised real estate and equipment, exceeds $250,000, a qualified appraiser must value the practice and the purchase loan cannot exceed that value. See the SBA valuation requirement.

• Patients follow doctors. In a complete change of ownership the seller may not stay as an owner, officer or employee, but may consult for up to 12 months, or up to 24 months under SOP 50 10 8.1 from 1 October 2026. Lenders want that time used to introduce the new doctor to patients.
• Ownership rules. Some states limit ownership of an optometry practice to licensed optometrists or physicians. Where they do, the buyer must hold that license, and the lender will check the state's rule before it checks the buyer.
• Panel participation. The buyer must be able to join the vision and medical plans that pay for most exams, and the lender will ask whether that is confirmed.
• From 1 October 2026, every change of ownership needs financial due diligence and 1.25x coverage on historical results, and amortizes over no more than 10 years except for real estate.

See financing an optometry practice acquisition for the deal in detail, and seller notes on standby for how a seller can help with the equity.

Preparing an optometry practice's SBA file

The SBA list comes first: business tax returns for 2–3 years, a P&L and balance sheet with a year-to-date P&L through last month-end, a debt schedule with copies of notes being refinanced, and personal tax returns and a personal financial statement for each owner of 20% or more. For an optometry practice, add:

• Collections by stream and by payer for the last two full years: vision plans, medical insurance, optical sales and cash-pay services
• An equipment list with purchase dates, and any equipment leases or liens, which belong on the debt schedule
• The office lease, with its term and renewal options
• Each doctor's license, and the practice's plan participation
• For a purchase: the letter of intent and the practice's latest full year of figures, never an older year, with active patient counts

Practices that have taken merchant cash advances need a plan for them first, since SBA will not refinance an active advance. See refinancing cash advances for medical practices. For working capital outside a term loan, see lines of credit for medical practices. Nearby professions: physicians, dental practices and chiropractors.

Transparent builds the full lender package, financing model, lender presentation, blind teaser and underwriting memo, in a day once the documents are in, and sends it to the SBA lenders in its book that fit the practice; 278 lenders in the book write SBA 7(a) and 504. On SBA loans the lender pays Transparent, not the borrower.